Fatalities on roads
According to media reports seven people were killed and 12 others injured in road accidents in Coxs Bazar, Gopalganj and Chapainawabganj on Friday. Unfortunately the number of road accidents and resultants fatalities is increasing at an alarming rate.
Incidents of traffic accidents can only be reduced if an attempt is made to understand their causes. There needs to be properly designed roads and even traffic signs. If either of these is not up to standard, it could be cause for a traffic accident. Of course, the primary reason for traffic accidents is fast and rash driving but that can be checked by vigilant policing. In addition to that, vehicles need to meet the necessary international fitness and road safety standards.
Thought also needs to be given to protecting the infrastructure that one finds along roads, since it can be prone to accidents. In this context encroachments and illegal structures along roads must be removed without delay. A large number of fatalities on roads involve pedestrians. These deaths occur simply because the pedestrians have to share the carriageway with the vehicles in the absence of proper and adequate space for them to use.
In developing countries scientific studies have been conducted and ways and means have been devised to reduce casualties on the roads. Legislation and strict enforcement coupled with educational efforts in this area have reduced road fatalities to a large extent. However, developing countries have lagged behind and bear the burden of burgeoning casualties on their roads.
Drivers should be punished on a system based on points where beyond a certain number of violations, they lose their licence to drive for a fixed period of time. As for the traffic police, they need to be trained better and should be efficient at not only managing the flow of traffic but also in fining those who break traffic laws.
Traffic jams is another area where precious man hours get wasted and if anyone is heading for a hospital in case of an emergency, then the patient can only look up to God for mercy.
The area for parking vehicles, in metros especially is constantly shrinking under pressure from the rising number of cars and bikes. People dont have traffic sense. Traffic police and media should play their role in creating traffic sense amongst the people.
There is also a dire need for a system where there is prompt reporting of traffic accidents so that emergency services can reach in as short a time as possible. An audit of road safety measures would also help because it will plug weaknesses in the system.
